


Techs Vs The Forces of Glitches

by Zehntacles



Category: Glitch Techs (Cartoon), Star vs. The Forces Of Evil
Genre: Action/Adventure, Crossover, Fights, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-13 12:08:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29775954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zehntacles/pseuds/Zehntacles
Summary: While attending Karate-Kon for her little sister Lexi, Miko and her friend Five encounter some unusual new friends that rise to the challenge when an unexpected army of karate glitch fighters appear and cause mayhem at the event.
Kudos: 1





	Techs Vs The Forces of Glitches

Every year martial arts enthusiasts young and old alike looked forward to their chance to enjoy the spectacle that was Karate-Kon. People would gather from across the country to talk with fellow karate practitioners and fans about tournaments, styles, movies and even video games focused around the art. People set up booths to sell collectibles, uniforms, equipment and action movies of their favorite stars of the big screen. It was a perfect fit for little Lexi Kubota and her growing interest in the hobby of martial arts. Less so for her big sister Miko who accompanied her into the building after they got their badges to attend. "So this is some kinda big tournament thingy?" Miko asked curiously, looking around at the different vendor booths as they entered.

"Sort of." Lexi explained. "There's going to be a big show today by people who are going to do an exhibition. I think you might like it." She said glancing up at Miko. "But if you don't wanna stay that long I understand. I know karate isn't really your 'thing' you're into." That was true. Miko's interest in karate was limited to the video games that had it in the title.

"Don't worry, I got your back. I said I'd be here with you for as long as you wanted to stay, right?" Miko assured her, getting a smile from her little sister. Besides she wasn't the only one Miko was keeping company while they were here. Approaching from behind after getting his own badge her friend Hector was reading the pamphlet they'd been given upon entering. Miko had declined hers but she wasn't surprised to see he had not only accepted that but all the promotional swag they gave him in the plastic bag he carried as well.

"Wow, this place is actually really big." Hector said, reviewing the map on the pamphlet. "There's booths for forever in the dealer's hall and the show rooms have demonstrations going on all day. There's even some participation sections."

"Thinking of getting your chi aligned and becoming an ultimate warrior, Five?" Miko asked, using his nickname rather than referring to him by his real one. Even "HI_5" like he used on his gaming profile was too long for her. So "Five" became an easy one for her to default to.

"And risk my gaming fingers from breaking boards and smashing rocks. No thanks." Five replied, focusing on the map. Lexi rolled her eyes at his disinterest in the actual activity of martial arts.

"Jeez, hard to believe you guys do the kind of stuff you do at your work with priorities like that." Lexi commented.

"Hey, protecting my gaming fingers is how I got the job I have now." Miko retorted.

"Sure thing. Wanna go check out some of the weapons?" Lexi replied.

"Absolutely! Five, wanna come with us?"

"Oh I'll catch up later, I have to go check out the gaming area. Rumor is there's going to be a brand new Mackie Hand game announced here!" Five said excitedly, but Miko just looked back in confusion. "Y'know, Mackie Hand. He's one of the biggest martial arts movie stars that's ever lived.

"Can't say I ever watched one." Miko replied. "Were the games any good?"

"They were awful. Like… amazingly bad. I played them all, loved every one." Five said with near pride in his voice. "But if they actually manage to make a good one it would be a great comeback for the series! So I have to support it."

"Alright then, keep your phone line open and I'll be sure to text you later." Miko said as she followed her sister into the crowd. She didn't know if checking out confirmed bad games would be any more fun than looking at martial arts stuff but at least this would be a new experience.

* * *

After separating from the girls, Five made a direct route to the games demo section. There wasn't anything there advertising the new game he'd been waiting on but there were plenty of others to check out at least. Some common arcade machines were set up for fighting games he'd played before and there were a few consoles as well for ones he was familiar with, new and old. Not much of it caught his eye until he stumbled upon something different from the rest. "It can't be..." He muttered, approaching the unusually shaped machine before him. All black and in an oval shape with a large boxy attachment sticking out the top. "That's really it! The Hinobi Panther 720X with CD attachment!"

Most older systems were easy to come across or they at least had their games ported or emulated onto a computer or newer console. Yet the Hinobi Panther was an oddity. A partnership between Hinobi and an arcade cabinet manufacturer whose name was long forgotten, the games were lost in limbo due to ownership issues and it was difficult to find a single one online that worked properly. Yet here was the real deal right in front of him and not only that, it had a game near and dear to him in the weird CD attachment stuck on the top. On the television screen before him read the words Silent Furious Fists 2. His hands shook as he took the control into them and pushed the start button.

The game began, it wasn't just for show. He was going to play his favorite Mackie Hand fighting game on its original console as it was meant to be played. Starting the game up he went through the character selection screen in front of him. Mackie Hand was of course the primary character along with a number of others from his various movies. Cursor resting over the star himself, Five decided against it. "Nah, too cheap. No one can defeat the Mackie Hand." Deciding on the drunken master character, Juggy Chugs, he began the game and started to play.

The controller was odd to say the least and it had been a long time since he'd played this game but thankfully muscle memory came through, letting him score a win on the first match. After getting back into his groove Five began to soar through the matches, feeling all the better as he was turning a few heads for people to watch him play this unusual game that most had probably never seen before. He'd won three matches before someone sat next to him to play as well. "Mind if I cut in?" Another boy close to his age in a red hoodie asked.

"Sure thing, playing against a person at this game is one of the rarest things you could get." Five said as he exited out of the main game to go into versus mode. Even if it was this other kid's first time playing he was already grateful for coming here today. "I'm Hector by the way, what's yours?

"Nice to meet you Hector, name's Marco."

* * *

"There really is some cool swag here." Miko said to her sister as she held up a large, thick, completely impractical sword. "Check this out, it's a replica of Nimbus's blade from Terminal Tale Ten! It even has the open slots for magica runes."

"I'm happy you're having fun." Lexi said, not really understanding the TV or video game references as much as her sister but just glad she was enjoying the experience. She'd already purchased a shirt for herself, a bo staff she wanted to practice with and a book on the subject. Miko had mostly been window shopping but was eyeing a few things for herself as well. While her sister was looking at the other dangerously sharp anime and game collectibles, Lexi found herself drawn to an area with a small line of kids breaking wooden boards. "That looks like it might be fun."

"Wanna give it a go?" Miko asked, her lanyard covered in a bunch of interesting pins she'd found through the different dealers booths. Taking her up on the offer Lexi stood in line with Miko and thankfully it wasn't very long to wait. Pulling out her phone Miko was already looking over some things online while they scooted closer little by little. Peeking her head up to look down the line Lexi could see another girl around her age breaking some of the boards and having a difficult time, hoping that she didn't find herself in a similar situation. The man running the booth gave her a few extra tries before she was finally able to do it and let her go on her way with a high five. At least he seemed nice.

"Wish we had a line for the little twerps and another for the actual people that can do this." A bigger boy in front of her in the line said. He was wearing a red headband and a white shirt with a dragon on it that was some kind of design she didn't recognize.

"Yeah, got all these babies in front of us wasting our time. Might as well make a line for the girls too so they can take their practice runs." The other boy agreed. He was heavier set than the first and in a black T-shirt that had the name of some rock band on it. At his judgmental words Lexi could see Miko's hands stop moving on the screen of her phone as she glared up at them but slowly returned back to typing. The line continued to move up and forward with the two boys before them making some rude comments every time someone couldn't manage to break a board on their first try. Usually about how they were weak or pathetic and if it happened to be a smaller kid or a girl Lexi could tell Miko was getting more annoyed with them. It was nearly their turn and before them was a young girl who tried to kick a board and failed to break it. The boys covered their mouths as they laughed and looked away. When she failed again on the second time they made it less of a priority to keep their behavior hidden.

"What's so funny?" Miko finally said, loud and clear to be sure they couldn't miss her words.

"Nothing... nothing at all." The boy in the red headband said mockingly. "I bet you two will do great."

"Oh yeah?" Miko asked, putting her phone away and crossing her arms. "What makes you say that?"

"You two look real buff. I bet you can like... maybe break a board. If you worked together." The boy in the black shirt said, the two of them laughing again. Miko's eyes were narrowed tight as she stared at them and Lexi was worried what she might do if she lost her temper.

"So you think a girl can't do as good as you?" Miko asked with fury in her eyes.

"What, you wanna see who's better? We could make a bet on it." The boy in the headband asked. "Looks like she's got plenty of stuff to put on the line." He pointed at the bag Lexi was carrying, making her hold it away from them defensively. "Tell you what, if you can break more boards than me I'll give you everything in my wallet in exchange for her stuff. Whaddya say?" He taunted, Miko looking between him and the board breaking game they were getting closer to. Lexi was aware her sister was very active but she didn't know if Miko was really able to handle doing something like this. "Unless you think a girl really is too weak?"

"You big ugly jerk, why don't I-"

"Excuse me." Another girl said, approaching all of them in line from outside of the divider. "Hi there, nice to meet you. I just couldn't help but overhear the conversation happening here. Now, lemme get this straight. You guys think girls aren't tough?" The new girl asked the boys in line.

"Yeah, what of it?" The boy in the black shirt taunted, all of them attracting attention from the rest of the line now.

"That a fact? That. A. Fact? So you wouldn't say... mind if I cut in on this bet? I got a whopping six hundred and fifty dollars on me that I'm willing to put on the line." She said confidently. Lexi and Miko looking extremely perplexed by this newcomer. She didn't look that tough, in fact she was even skinnier than Miko in appearance with long blonde hair that challenged Miko's own long purple locks. "Unless you're chicken?"

"Be my guest." The boy said, letting her walk in front of him. This new girl gave Miko and Lexi a wink as she took the next spot in line and walked into the area with the man setting up a board for her.

"Excuse me, could I maybe have another six or seven of them? I need to prove a point to someone." She asked him and the man agreed setting them up for her and warning her it might be harder than she thought. Thanking him for his concern she balled up her hand into a fist and dropped it directly onto the boards with a furious shout. Her form was sloppy and careless but that didn't seem to matter, the boards easily giving way to her strength as she crushed through all of them. "Yeah! That's what you get for being made of wood!"

"Holy crud!" Miko blurted out.

"How did she do that!?" Lexi asked, amazed. The blonde girl posing with a bright smile and looking over to see the boys she'd challenged had discreetly left after her display of strength. Exiting out the other side Miko encouraged Lexi to take her turn as she got out of line to go speak to this new girl that had stood up for them.

"That was so cool! You totally scared those jerks off!" Miko said in a fit of excitement. The blonde girl eating it up.

"Well I've done a thing or two when it comes to smashing stuff. Nice to meet you, I'm Star Butterfly."

"Oh, hi! I go by ME_K.O. online but my name is Miko Kubota." She offered her hand in a friendly handshake and Star reciprocated it cheerfully. "So you're into karate stuff too?"

"Well... not really. I'm just here with someone but wanted to go on the prowl by myself for a little bit." Star explained, Miko taking in her appearance. Miko herself was dressed rather colorfully in her purple tights and yellow and black top. However this girl out did her by a mile with the colorful blue dress, striped tights and decorative furry boots. "When I saw those guys bullying you two it didn't sit right with me. So I decided to bully me some bullies right back."

"Miko!" Lexi came running back to her once her turn was over. "I wanted to try and break two boards so I could be tough too. And I did it!"

"Nice one little sis. Oh, this is my sister Lexi." Miko said, introducing her to the new girl. "Lexi, this is Star."

"Star? That's a pretty name." Lexi said curiously.

"That's right, Star Butterfly at your service. Pleasure to meet you." She said shaking Lexi's hand. Something about her introduction clicked in Miko's head as she came to a realization.

"Hold on a second... your real name is Star Butterfly?" She asked, Star nodding her head proudly. "Wow that's... not what I expected to hear. It's the kind of name you'd give to a magical girl warrior."

"Or a fantasy princess." Lexi added. Star laughing nervously at their suggestions.

"Yeah that's... pretty funny, huh? So I gotta head over to the game area to pick up my plus one..." That statement made Miko's face light up.

"We're headed that way too to pick up Five after we see the exhibition. Can we hang out a little bit more?"

"I'd like that too!" Lexi agreed. "Maybe you can show me how you were able to smash those boards so easily." Star was caught off guard having two new people add to her entourage but didn't mind the new friends. Walking along with them to their next destination.

"Alright Lexi, If you really want to break a board the first thing you want to do is harbor a healthy distrust and anger towards wood."

* * *

"You're better than I thought." Five said as he focused on the screen where their characters were trading blows. Marco had been keeping up with him far better than he expected anyone here could have. "Did you have this game or something?"

"Nah, I only ever played it on my computer." Marco replied, "Gotta be honest this controller is really strange."

"Your classic Hinobi Panther quality design." Five said sarcastically. The controller was like a strange telephone pad with a joystick and larger buttons on either side of it. Sort of like an arcade stick but worse in every way possible. "Phew, just barely squeaked that victory out."

"Man, you're really something. I don't know if I've won a single round." Marco replied. "One more before we're done?"

"Heck yeah, I'm never gonna find another person in the world that can both play this game and have fun with while doing it." Five said as they went to the character selection screen. While they'd been experimenting with all the characters this time around Five watched as Marco's cursor went straight to the star character Mackie Hand himself and selected him. Understanding what his strategy must have been Five did the same. "Looks like we have a mirror match."

"Guess so..." Marco said with hesitation. As the fight began and the screen revealed a stage inside of a dojo the characters on screen spoke in unison "No one can defeat the Mackie Hand!" Then the battle began.

With them both warmed up this was the best fight they'd had so far. Each one threw special moves and techniques while the characters moved in a somewhat jerky fashion as the game was showing the wear and tear of the old system. Five was coming out on top again and Marco was prepared to show his trump card. As Player 1 Mackie came at Player 2 with a flying attack the second on screen model extended its hand in a forward palm strike, sending the first opponent flying backwards. Marco let out a sigh and smiled to himself. "No one can defeat the Mackie Hand."

"Thought that might be your move." Five said.

"Sorry if it's unfair. I know he's the strongest person in the game." Marco admitted. "But I gotta say I couldn't think of any other way to beat you."

"Who said you had?" Five asked confidently. "We still have another round." Which was true, the second round began and it played much like the first with Five dominating the beginning of the match. Realizing how this was going to go Marco went and pulled his special move again, Mackie Hand delivering his Mackie Hand Attack. Though the effect wasn't quite what he expected as Five performed the same move at the same time. Neither character moved an inch as their strikes collided together.

"What the...?"

"Bet you didn't know about that." Five said feeling proud of himself. "Nothing defeats the Mackie Hand, including the Mackie Hand." Marco tried again and Five continued to counter his attack with specially timed attacks back in his direction.

"So... we just run the clock out?" Marco asked. "Won't you still lose if that happens?"

"You'd think so." Five said. "But there's more to it than that." When the two palms collided again the Mackie that Five was controlling suddenly went into a throwing animation, tossing his opponent across the screen for massive damage. It was enough that when the fight ended Five was the winner.

"Whoa. That... was awesome!" Marco said in celebration. "I didn't even know you could do that!"

"It's the only way to win at a mirror match in this game. Something about the programming is messed up where you can toss him during that animation."

"Well I know when I'm beat. Thanks for playing with me." Marco said, setting the controller down and standing up from the folding chair. "So what are you up to from here?"

"I was actually coming for the announcement at the stage. Supposedly there's going to be a new Mackie Hand game coming out."

"Really, I'm here for the same thing! Want to go together!?"

"You better believe it." The two boys said, walking off together and lost in the excitement over their hobbies. The owner of the gaming area shook his head as he reset the Hinobi Panther system.

"Bunch of nerds. Could have bought some merch if they were gonna play that long. Least they didn't get my controllers all sweaty." He said, setting the controllers back near the console and resetting it. The television screen flickered a little bit as the game restarted. "This thing is being held together by duct tape and prayers. Just last till the end of the convention, would you?" He smacked the side of the machine causing it to reset properly. Feeling satisfied he walked away from the Hinobi Panther system, not noticing the small green sparks of electricity that were building up behind it.

* * *

Sitting on bleachers that had been set up for the exhibition viewers, Lexi, Miko and Star had all taken seats in the middle to get a good view of the people putting on performances for the guests of the convention. The bo staff Lexi had purchased was sitting across the laps of all three girls as she watched excitedly while the different participants put on impressive performances with katas and mock battles using a variety of weapons. Even though this was all foreign to her Miko had to admit the skill these people had to perform moves and choreography together like that was fun to watch. Like a live action kung fu movie going on before them on the mats laid out across the convention room floor. While Lexi was enamored with the show Miko took a moment to get to know the cool girl they had met a little better. "So Star, you're visiting from out of town?"

"Yep, I live in Echo Creek. Though I'm not really from there originally." Star said thinking about it.

"Oh, where are you from?"

"Uh... it's called Mewni, you've probably never heard of it." Miko indeed hadn't heard of this place. Though something about Echo Creek sounded kind of familiar. She couldn't really place it but she felt like that name had been in the news or something a while back. Probably nothing to do with this girl though. "Do you go to these karate things a lot?"

"Not really, I'm checking it out with Lexi is all. Usually I'm at work at the Hinobi Store or out on tech support calls."

"Huh... Hinobi, something about that sounds kind of familiar." Star said, thinking it over for a moment.

"Well they are the most famous video game company in the world." Miko bragged, feeling a little bit of pride in being part of that team.

"Nah, that's not it. I don't really play video games." Star answered, Miko looking at her like she was some sort of alien from another dimension for saying that. "But I swear I've heard that name before..." While she was trying to recall why exactly she recalled Hinobi and Miko was wrestling with the idea Star didn't immediately know what Hinobi was, Lexi caught her sister's attention.

"Huh, that's a weird outfit." Lexi said out loud, Miko turning her gaze back to the mat where there was a boy in a normal looking red karate gi holding a red bo staff. He looked like he'd planned to do a martial arts performance like the people before him but had stopped as there was a man standing next to him in a completely white... well it wasn't a karate uniform. It was more like a ninja costume. Complete with a mask and helmet that covered his face. The boy was standing there awkwardly as the ninja stood next to him in silence, facing the crowd. Eventually walking up to the man in the ninja costume to try and understand what this was about..

"Uh... hello sir? I think maybe you're a little early?" The boy said, trying to get his attention as everyone was staring awkwardly at the scene. "I know it's my turn on the mat, you might want to ask the organizers if your turn is-"

"Get away from here!" The white ninja suddenly shouted, pressing his palm against the boy's chest. A white bo staff seemed to magically appear out of the sleeve of the ninja, knocking the boy off his feet and through the air into a pile of padded sports equipment at a vendor table. Everyone watched in shock at the insane display as the bo staff retracted back into his sleeve and seemed to disappear.

"...I'm... I'm okay." The boy stuttered from the pile of karate gear he'd been thrown into. Everyone's eyes now turned to the ninja who was posing in the middle of the mats.

"Mantis is victorious! Perfect win!" He announced himself out loud of himself. Everyone was confused over it, including Miko, until she felt Lexi pulling at her sleeve to get her attention.

"Miko, your arm band thing!" She shouted, Miko looking at her bracelet to see the flashing light warning her of a dangerous malfunction in Hinobi equipment nearby.

"That's a glitch!?" Miko shouted in surprise.

"There's a lot of people here... will it be okay?" Lexi asked her sister nervously.

"What's a glitch?" Star followed up. Miko didn't see many options available to her as she needed to do something to stop this video game ninja run amok from actually hurting someone seriously.

"I'm sorry Star, can you keep an eye on Lexi for me!?" Miko asked, sitting up from her spot on the bleachers and making her way down as fast as she could. Slipping off the bleachers and then under them she expanded her wrist band into the high tech gauntlet that supported her Glitch Tech abilities. A screen appeared on the forearm portion of the gauntlet and allowed her to control its functions. "Can't just pop out in my Hinobi outfit in front of all these people... everyone will know." Cycling through rapidly with the touch screen Miko landed on a pair of spiked gloves and boots icon, selecting them as they formed around her feet and fists. The weapons made out of the same solid energy that the glitch monster out there was using to stay solid and move around. "Okay, that's good but I still need a disguise... need a disguise… some kind of disguise that fits in with a karate place." Spotting a close by clothing vendor she got an idea.

Out on the mat the glitch monster that was shaped like a ninja in white was still posing before the crowd who didn't know what to make of this. The other participants of the exhibition stood around in confusion and checked their papers to see if this person was on the schedule. "Come challengers. Test Your Strength!" The ninja shouted to the crowd around him. "I shall destroy you, and be the champion of the Bloody Fighting tournament!"

"This guy's nuts." Star said from the stand. "Maybe I should go teach him a lesson!"

"Uh... I think someone will take care of him." Lexi suggested to Star. "If we just... wait a little longer, I'm sure someone will-"

"I challenge you!" A girl cried out from the edge of the stand. Hair tied up into two purple colored buns. She had a blue mask on her face and a blue Chinese styled top on along with black tights. "Face me... uh... the warrior named... Meat Buns!" She called out, taking a stance as glowing fists and boots appeared on her limbs. The ninja took a stance in preparation for combat and the crowd seemed to be cheering now.

"See, I guess it was all part of the show?" Lexi offered to Star, who was scratching her chin.

"That Meat Buns girl sounds a lot like your sister." She wondered curiously. "And she appeared right after Miko disappeared."

"...a coincidence?" Lexi asked, shrugging as the battle on the mat began.

* * *

At one of the stages set up in the grand convention hall, Five and Marco were packed into a crowd of people waiting for the next presenter to come on stage. Music was blaring from the speakers already too loud to really listen to or enjoy but they were enduring it to get that announcement they were both craving. While they were waiting the boys were doing their best to make small talk. "So, do you do these conventions often?" Five asked Marco.

"Whenever I get the chance. Usually I can't travel this far out of town for them but I got lucky this time."

"Cool, how long are you in for?"

"Just today really, that was the plan anyway."

"If we end up getting out of her sooner we should hit up the Hinobi store. I could get you a discount on anything if you're interested."

"Really!? You actually work for Hinobi?"

"Yep, Hinobi tech support, that's me." Five shared proudly. "I can only provide the discount though. Cash is going to have to be all you."

"Oh I can handle that... well, hopefully. I gave it to someone for safekeeping while I was looking around. Hopefully they didn't spend it while I wasn't looking." Marco explained. Five was about to ask him who exactly they were here with but then applause started as the presenter came up on stage. With their long awaited announcement coming Marco and Five stayed quiet to listen to the presenter talk. He was dragging it out of course, building up the reveal of the game and discussing the history of Mackie Hand and his films. There was even a man that came out in a giant mascot suit designed to look like Mackie Hand himself, performing kicks and punches for the crowd despite the goofy over-sized head and body costume he was wearing. "Jeez, this isn't bad and all but they could get to the point already."

"Yeah, can only keep my interest for so long." Five said, though his attention was drawn away from the stage when he heard a beeping. Looking down at his Hinobi wristband there was a flashing light warning him of a damaged Hinobi system in the area. "Oh no... here!? How!?" His eyes left the stage as he began to look around rapidly, trying to see what sort of glitch would have emerged and what it was up to. While he was distracted Marco kept watching.

"Aw, it's just a mobile game. I guess that's not so bad but I was hoping for something more." Marco complained, his arms crossed as he was watching the projection screen showing off game play. "Has a real cartoony look too. Guess that's why they made that mascot costume look the way they did." Turning his head Marco could see his new friend wasn't paying attention at all. "Hey Hector, is everything okay? You look really worried."

"Oh, I'm just uh... well, it's kinda hard to explain..." He began, though their attention was brought forward again as the crowd started murmuring in confusion when someone walked up on stage where the presenter was. Unlike the presenter himself and the actor in the Mackie Hand mascot costume this man was dressed in very decorative robes and seemed to be stumbling around like he was drunk. The presenter took his microphone away from his mouth so no one heard what he said to the drunkard, but everyone saw him get punched in the stomach and sent flying into the actor in the mascot suit as they both tumbled off stage. "Whoa!"

"That didn't look like it was part of the show." Marco said curiously as the previous people on the stage had literally fallen off of it onto their backs. The fact seemed more apparent as convention volunteers tried to get the man off the stage and were being tossed around and pushed easily by the drunk in the kung fu costume. "Y'know... it's funny, he's dressed like the guy you were playing as in the Mackie Hand game."

"Oh no." Five said with dreaded realization. "Say Marco, I can't explain right now but things are about to get really weird and wild." Dropping down to his knee Five pressed a button on his wrist band to make it expand into a metal gauntlet.

"Whoa. That's awesome." Marco said, kneeling down as well to look as Five's fingers moved across the screen quickly.

"Uh... let's see... some kind of fighting game skin is probably best. Uh... how about... The Demon Puncher?" Pressing his finger on the button there was a strange light that surrounded him. Five's clothes changed to resemble a martial arts uniform but it was blocky and stiff, as if he was covered in an outfit from an old video game character. A similar electronic headband over his eyes as a visor to see out of.

"Uhhhhh... this is really cool but I still have no idea what's going on."

"Yeah, you probably won't but it's alright." Springing from his feet Five flew through the air with a super human leap, everyone watching in surprise as a new fighter just as strange as the first landed on the stage. "Alright glitch, prepare to get defragged!" His drunken opponent didn't speak, instead staggering towards Five as he took a fighting stance. "Heh, don't go thinking some last gen game can compete with me."

* * *

"Go down already!" Miko shouted as she threw more kicks and punches at her opponent who continued to block them and tried to land counter attacks on her. "What the heck game are you from that there's no damage on block? This is cheap, stop turtling" She threw another solid punch at her opponent and it took his head clean off this time, but he seemed to disappear in a puff of smoke. Realizing her mistake Miko turned around just in time for the ninja to appear and sweep her off her feet. She hit the ground with a thud and groaned. "Maybe I should be taking karate lessons after all..."

"Get away from here!" The ninja shouted, Miko rolling out of the way as the staff appeared from his sleeve again and struck the mat where she had been, putting a hole through it. In the stands a crowd was still watching the fight in confusion and Star was noticing that Lexi was looking more and more scared as it carried on.

"Are you going to be okay?" Star asked the younger girl who kept her eyes on the fight and just nodded. Miko on the defense now as she dodged repeated strikes from that staff that shot out like a bullet from the ninja's arm. Backing up away from her enemy Miko grumbled with frustration.

"Why am I even playing fair with you!?" Pulling up her gauntlet she touched the screen to turn it on, sliding a bar up to a maximum output status. "Super bar full! Get ready for this one." Reeling her fist all the way back she suddenly flew forward with a punch that crumpled the ninja's block. "Doing alright!? Breaker Fox!" Flying through the body of her opponent the ninja disappeared in an explosion of square lights and pixels. Miko panting hard and then raising a fist to the crowd and cheering in victory. The crowd cheered in response to her.

"Way to goooo!" Lexi applauded, Star clapping as well as she clearly saw through Miko's disguise but didn't get why it was important to hide her face. Everyone seemed to be lost in the moment of her win, so much that they didn't see the appearance of a similar red ninja walk on to the mat behind her. Miko turned and let out a sigh.

"Another one? Really?"

"You have shamed my clan for the last time, Praying Mantis!" The red ninja pointed at Miko who took her fighting stance again.

"You'll die on the end of my staff, Super Hot!" A voice from behind Miko called out. Turning around she saw the ninja she had just defeated was suddenly back on the mat again and ready for another fight.

"Oh no, he wasn't the source of the glitch!" Miko said in concern. "Soooo uh... do you two want to just work this out between yourselves or...?" She got her answer as the red ninja shot a blast of fire out of his hands that she barely avoided. The ball of flame hitting a nearby banner and reducing it to ashes. With that very real threat the crowd decided they weren't going to stick around any longer as they moved away from the bleachers in a panic. Lexi however didn't get up, still watching with concern as Miko was now fighting for her life to avoid getting hit by both of the opponents she was facing. When she finally found a moment to counter attack against the red ninja he grabbed hold of her wrist to stop her, then the other to hold her in place. Struggling to break free she could see behind her the white ninja was closing in with that staff attack ready to strike her head. Closing her eyes she waited for it to hit into her skull and possibly do to her what it had done to the mat earlier. "Get away from here!" The ninja screamed out again, though despite bracing herself for it the attack didn't strike. Opening her eyes Miko looked back to see someone had saved her. "Star!?"

"I'm not going anywhere, ya freaky freak." Star said, standing between the white ninja and Miko. Her hand having grabbed the staff before it could strike her and holding it in place. The white ninja tried to retreat but he couldn't run as she had too strong a grip on him.

"Finish him!" The red ninja suddenly called out to Star. Star reached back with her free hand and with a scream she shoved it into the digital ninja's chest. Ripping it back out while holding a pixelated heart. She crushed it in her palm and the white ninja exploded into light again.

"Perfect win." Star said with a smile.

"Whoa." Miko replied in amazement. Suddenly realizing she was still in a fight as well she lifted her feet up while the red ninja held her arms, kicking both legs forward and driving her spiked feet into the chest of her enemy. He popped away in a display of light and she took a moment to catch her breath after falling to the mats. "Star? Are you okay?"

"Better than okay! I haven't clobbered a bad guy in forever." Star said, punching a fist into her palm.

"How'd you do that without a Hinobi Tech gauntlet?"

"I dunno, I just punched him." Star shrugged. Miko looking at her in disbelief over such a simple answer. "I did it really hard? So anyway, what is that thing? I didn't think magic stuff worked anymore on Earth." She asked, pointing at the metal gauntlet on Miko's right arm.

"Uh this... well uh... it's kinda hard to explain but... basically I'm an employee of Hinobi Tech and me and my partner Five work together to stop glitch monsters that appear from malfunctioning games to protect the populace from them when they break so that nobody is afraid to play them and now that I think about it this sounds more like a cover up by Hinobi than actually helping cause we also have these mind eraser things in them that help us hide our identities but it doesn't work on me for some reason so maybe that's why they hired me but I hope it's actually cause I'm a super good gamer and now we gotta find the source of the glitch otherwise these ninja guys will just keep coming at us over and over again and that's about it." Miko finished her long ramble. "Did that make sense?"

"Yeah I got it." Star nodded. Lexi joined the girls now that the danger had been handled and it was safe to approach.

"Star, are you okay!?"

"Never better." She answered the girl with a wink. "Honestly it was over a little too soon for me. I could have taken a few more of those guys." As if to answer her request the gauntlet on Miko's arm beeped with warning as the red and white ninjas appeared again from the crowd.

"Roasty!" The red ninja cried out.

"Get away from me!" The white ninja shouted as they both took a stance. Miko checked on her sister and nodded to her.

"Stay behind us Lexi, alright? Me and Star will take care of this." Lexi nodded as the two girls leaped into battle again. Star tackled her white ninja enemy in near glee at the chance to fight while Miko defended against the fire attacks to keep anyone else from getting hurt. "I sure hope Five is taking care of whatever is causing this while we're stuck here."

* * *

"Stand still, would you!?" Five was shouting in frustration, sending pixel fireball after fireball at his opponent but he kept dodging them. The game he came from was so jagged and poorly made that it was a wonder this guy could somehow manage to dance around all of his attacks. Still the glitch was focused on fighting Five and none of the attendees fleeing the scene so that was a plus. The stage was getting broken up though, mostly from Five's attacks as the drunken master glitch monster just kept evading him over and over. Never speaking, just mumbling bit-crushed game noises that vaguely sounded like an old man mumbling. "Alright you want a super!? I'll give you one!" Leaping into the air Five pulled back his arm and flung it forward, fist outstretched as a series of fireballs flew from his arm like a gun.

"Ooh hoo hoo hoo hoo!" The drunken master laughed as he twirled around the attacks, closing the gap between him and Five with each spin. As he was coming back down to the ground Five could see the twirling outstretched hand ready to strike him point blank in the chest.

"Hector!" A voice cried out from outside the stage as Marco was running forward, leaping up on to it and swinging his own legs forward to catch the glitch fighter off guard and trip him. As his enemy landed on his face Five spun his body around and performed a diving kick on his opponent, making him disappear in a flash of light. With the fight ended Five fell back onto the stage to catch his breath.

"Nice save... Marco." Five said between heavy breaths.

"You weren't kidding when you said things were gonna get weird. So uh... I guess this just wasn't another guy in a costume?"

"Nope, it's a glitch."

"A what?"

"By product of a malfunctioning Hinobi system. When it happens severely it can produce electronic beings that follow game programming in real life."

"And uh... Hinobi just allows that?" Marco asked in disbelief.

"Well we try to keep it under control as glitch techs." Five explained, pulling up his gauntlet and touching the screen to remove the video game cover he'd had over his body while fighting the electronic monster.

"Maybe just don't make game systems that can malfunction so bad they kill your customers?" Marco offered. "So how do we stop it?"

"Gotta go to the source." Five sat up and Marco helped him to his feet. "Did that guy look familiar to you?"

"Juggy Chug from Silent Furious Fists 2." Marco answered. "I thought it was just a really accurate costume but it was actually the game character."

"Right, which means we already know where to go to fix the problem." Jumping off the stage Marco and Five began to head towards the gaming center where they had met, though they didn't make it far before there were a row of large men in various impractical outfits standing in their way.

"Get away from here!" A white ninja threatened.

"Roasty!" A red ninja declared, flames lighting up from his hands.

"I'll drink to that." The same old man that they had just defeated announced, stumbling forward.

"Shadow Boxing!" A kickboxer in sunglasses declared, throwing jabs in the air.

"You gotta be kidding me." Marco complained seeing the row of them. "We just beat that guy too and he's already back!?" He pointed angrily at the old drunken master who was shifting from foot to foot. "We have to beat them all over again?"

"Maybe more than once." Five said, raising his gauntlet arm to shoot a beam of energy at his enemies, all of them dodging expertly from the attack. "I was afraid of that. They're fighting game characters, so they're dodging everything but fighting game attacks."

"Well that's... dumb and annoying." Marco said, standing ready to fight. "I'll take the ninjas if you want the other two."

"Marco, this is serious, you probably should-"

"Yeah yeah, sure sure. I got the ninjas." Marco said confidently. Their enemies closing in on them. As they approached though two other figures flew past the boys, a purple one swiftly throwing a kick at the drunken fighter and a blonde streak hitting the white ninja back to where he'd been standing. The boys froze to see the girls that stood before them.

"Miko!" Five shouted happily. "Thank goodness you're okay!"

"Five, these guys keep popping up all over!" Miko replied, squaring off with her enemies.

"It's from the Hinobi Panther system at the game area, it must have broke down from age."

"Hinobi Panther!? I didn't think one of those things even existed anymore." Miko dodged a sloppy punch that went for her head from the drunken master glitch. "We'll try to fight these guys off for you, you fix the system!"

"Right!" Five charged ahead, giant energy fists forming around his hands from the gauntlet he wore as he engaged the kick boxer glitch. He didn't know who the new girl was but somehow she was fighting just as fiercely as Marco against these opponents. Not questioning the extra help he took wide swings at his opponent to try and knock him out fast.

"Hector!" Marco called out as he dodged fireballs from the red ninja. "That's Jerry Rage!"

"Yeah, and!?" Five shouted back as he continued his assault of punches.

"And he has that counter attack of-" the enemy Five was battling against did the splits in front of him, making Five completely miss on his punch and stumble forward. Right into a counter punch between his legs. "... the nutcracker." Marco said, wincing in pain seeing the hit that brought Five to his knees.

"Noted." Fives groaned in a high pitch voice, raising his hand up and shooting the fist forward like a bullet into his enemy. Even if it didn't take the pain away it felt good to see the one that caused him this pain disappear in a flash of light. Stumbling to his feet Five ran past the other enemies his friends fought against to try and put a stop to this as soon as possible.

Left behind to hold down the fort, Miko was growing frustrated that she couldn't land a hit on the old man in front of her. "Stay still you weirdo! Ugh, I hate classic games like this. They don't make any sense with their controls."

"Get away from here!" Miko heard the white ninja call for maybe the hundredth time today as he fought against Star and the new boy who's name she didn't catch. Looking back to see that Star had done her crazy trick of grabbing his attack again with the kind of speed and strength she couldn't understand from her thin body. The new boy in the red hoodie was dodging the red ninja's fireball attacks and during one of them he moved in and grabbed the ninja's arms, making them turn to Star who swung the white ninja into the fireball's path, destroying the glitch as it disappeared in a flash. Following it up the boy flipped the red ninja into the air and Star spiked him like a volleyball into the ground where he also disappeared in a flash.

"Jeez, are all martial arts people like this?" Miko wondered seeing these two fight like fiercer monsters than the ones from the game. She'd been having trouble hitting this drunken master fighting game glitch with her own punches but maybe those two would do better? The next time he tried to attack her Miko switched her gauntlet from the spiked fists and boots she'd been using to a blue energy beam that she shot at the ground. Making it slippery and causing the old man to slide past her. "Hey Star, serving one up to you!"

"Got it, Miko!" Star called back, both her and the boy in the red hoodie reeling their legs back and kicking the glitch in the face like a soccer ball, making him disappear.

"You two are really good at this." Lexi said as she approached the older kids now that the monsters had been defeated. "Like really good! You did that together no problem." The compliments seemed to make the boy blush but Star just ate them up.

"Heh, well I've got some practice under my belt." She said, standing proud.

"We should go check on Hector." Marco suggested, all of them following him back to where the game system had been set up. Thankfully no other opponents seemed to appear in their path, Miko hoping that was a sign he'd resolved the problem already. Though their hope sank when they arrived at the game booth. The owner hiding behind his table where his games were sitting as a sickly green glow was coming off of his Hinobi Panther system. Five currently crumpled on the ground near the case it was set up in while a figure with brown hair in a white karate uniform stood above him.

"Five!" Miko cried out in a panic, charging ahead of the others and using her gauntlet to create a giant fist made out of glowing energy. However when she attempted to strike the figure turned and pressed a palm against her attack, shattering the fist in an instant and the force of the explosion sending her and Five flying away from the machine. Star and Marco caught them so they didn't have a hard landing against the ground, looking up to see the figure approach them while more glitches emerged from the machine at his back.

"Hey, he looks kind of familiar." Star said curiously. "I know I've seen that mustache before somewhere."

"I can't believe it, it's him." Marco said, setting Five down carefully and walking forward. "It's the real Mackie Hand." The figure before him stood tall and strong, imposing and confident. Though there was a massive difference from the actual Mackie Hand in that the green energy that filled the machine behind him also glowed in the glitch monster's eyes.

"Marco!" Five called out from behind him. "That's not the real Mackie Hand. It's just a computer program that looks like him. He's nothing more than a glitch." Even though Marco knew those words were true, it was still weird to look at the figure before him and not think of his childhood hero.

"Yeah... I know... but still, to me it's him." Marco said sadly, the glitch of Mackie taking a fighting stance. "You're really gonna make me do this huh? Well, alright then. At least I can compare myself now to the best."

"You won't have to do it alone." Star said, walking up beside Marco and preparing to fight as well. Charging ahead Marco attacked their enemy low while Star came at him with a high kick. It seemed like a good strategy, he was designed to fight only one enemy at a time from the video game's programming. However somehow Glitch Mackie was adapting, lowering his left hand to deflect Marco's punch and block Star's kick with his right forearm. It didn't stop either of the teens though as they continued their attack, weaving around each other expertly as they delivered blow after blow that Mackie seemed to evade with super human speed.

"Those two are incredible." Lexi said in awe as she watched them fight.

"Yeah it's... really impressive." Miko replied, watching Star and Marco begin to attack at the same time with punches and kicks to try and overpower their enemy. Though still he didn't budge. "Five, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Five said, looking at his gauntlet. "Fixing the game system should be easy but as long as we're this far away we can't do it."

"Well they got him pretty tangled up, let's just run around while he's busy!" Miko suggested. Her and Five coming from opposite directions to get at the game system. Glitch Mackie saw their approach but escaping the onslaught from Marco and Star wasn't an option. So instead he pulled his arm up and struck his palm against the ground, creating a shock wave that blasted all four of the teens away from the game system that was feeding him his power. Miko was knocked into a crowd of pedestrians that caught her but she didn't seem well enough to keep fighting. Five had gone farther, crashing over the table of games that the vendor had been hiding behind. Marco had taken the brunt of the hit, slamming back against Star who caught him as she slid hard against the ground. When she looked up again Glitch Mackie was approaching them, fists balled up to attack. Struggling to get up she moved too slowly, Mackie closing the distance. Though his attack hesitated as a person stood between them.

"That's enough!" Lexi shouted at Glitch Mackie. "What are you even doing!? This isn't martial arts. This is just... just being a bully. You're not the real Mackie Hand at all, are you? He'd never do this to innocent people. Everyone said he was the best there was."

"I... I..." Glitch Mackie hesitated, looking at his own palm. The green glow of his eyes grew more intense as he balled it up into a fist again. "No one... can defeat... the Mackie Hand!"

"Lexi!" Miko screamed, trying to get up to her feet to protect her sister, Star struggling to do the same. Lexi closed her eyes and felt the gust of air against her face as the fist was coming in. Followed by the sound of someone hitting a cushion. Opening her eyes and looking up, she saw two Mackie Hands in front of her. The fist of the Glitch one caught by another larger, cartoonier version.

"Mackie... Hand?" Lexi asked in confusion. The man in the mascot costume looked over at her, and then putting his other palm under Glitch Mackie's elbow, gripped him and threw him easily back towards the game system. Glitch Mackie righted himself in the air and took his fighting stance again, the Mascot Mackie taking the exact same form.

"No way... he countered it." Five mumbled as he picked himself up from where he had crashed. The two Mackie Hands approaching each other. Each trading blows and blocking the other expertly, fighting as though they were perfectly matched.

"Who is that guy?" Star asked, helping Marco up to his feet as they watched the Glitch Mackie Hand and the man in the goofy costume continue to battle. The more Glitch Mackie tried to press the attack the easier Mascot Mackie deflected him, pushing him backwards towards the machine. At a loss Glitch Mackie resorted to his last attack.

"No one can defeat-"

"The Mackie Hand!" The man in the mascot costume finished from underneath the large mask, delivering the same palm strike that Glitch Mackie did and nullifying the attack completely. Before Glitch Mackie could react, Mascot Mackie grabbed the front of his gi and flipped him over his shoulder. As Glitch Mackie hit the ground Mascot Mackie struck him hard, making his body bounce against the solid surface and disappear in a flash of light. All the teens watched in stunned silence at the battle they'd just witnessed, Miko snapping to attention first.

"Five, the system!"

"Oh, right!" Running up to the Hinobi Panther, Five was quick to disconnect all the cords in the back and switch off the power. Popping open the panel on the back side of the machine and reaching in to pull out a triangle shaped, green glowing glass container. "There it is. Now to fix it." Taking it over the game table he'd knocked over earlier, Five righted it up and set the glass container down carefully. Scanning it with his gauntlet and causing it to turn dark and then light up again with a blue color. "Okay, there we go. Easy peasy."

"Thank goodness." Miko said. "Lexi, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just fine." Lexi said smiling at her big sister. "How about you Star, are you okay?"

"Sure thing, thanks to this handsome stranger here." She said, taking hold of Marco's hand. "Do you want to introduce me to your friends, Miko?"

"Oh, uh... this is Five, he's my best buddy and works at Hinobi with me. I don't know who this other guy is though." She said motioning to Marco.

"Uh, that's Marco, we met earlier and were hanging out at the announcement stage when all of this went down." Five explained, Star looking the boy in the red hoodie up and down.

"Marco, huh? You're a pretty strong fighter. A hero like you I wouldn't mind sharing a special reward with." She said in a flirty tone, moving up to him and kissing him on the lips. "That's how it's supposed to end right, the beautiful girl kissing the handsome hero?"

"Right out of an action movie." Marco agreed, hugging his arms around Star. Five, Miko and Lexi all watched in amazement as their two friends had started kissing each other after meeting one other not more than ten minutes ago. As they were paired together Lexi looked at them and then at her sister and Five.

"So does that mean you guys are going to do that too?" At her question both Miko and Five turned away from each other as if making eye contact was far too embarrassing to consider. Once their new friend's make out session ended Marco turned to Five. "Oh yeah, Hector, this is Star Butterfly. She's my girlfriend I came here with."

"Wait, you two already knew each other!?" Miko asked in shock. "Why didn't you say that earlier?"

"Well we were kinda fighting video game monsters the whole time." Star said. "Are you two not dating too? You look like you'd be really cute together."

"We're just friends!" Five said in further embarrassment. "So uh... we should probably get to putting this game system back together and fixing up the damage it caused, right Miko?" She nodded her head rapidly, having taken her hair out of the buns she'd wrapped them in and using her long locks to hide her face that had turned red again from all this talk about boyfriends and kissing being directed at her.

"Hold on a second." Star said, leaving Marco's embrace and picking up the triangle shaped glass container. "I recognize this thing, look at the symbol on it!" She carried it over to Marco who held the container up against the light to get a better lock.

"Oh yeah! That's an Amethyst Arcade logo!"

"Amethyst Arcade? What's that? A place back in Echo Creek?" Miko asked, finally having felt more comfortable now that the conversation was off romance stuff.

"Nah, it's in another dimension." Star said casually, making Miko and Five look at her in disbelief. "I used to go there sometimes with Marco but our magical scissors don't work so well anymore."

"Yeah, thanks to those extra dimensional scissors I got that three decades of fighter's training in the Neverzone that let me keep up with all those crazy kung fu video game monsters we just fought. But I've never seen something come back from another dimension that wasn't magic. Kinda weird there's an Amethyst Arcade technology gizmo here that still works." Marco agreed, handing the power supply back to Five. After a moment he and Miko just laughed nervously.

"You're... you're messing with us, right?" Five asked, installing the power supply back into the Hinobi Panther and using his gauntlet to repair the exterior damage to it.

"We just fought video game monsters together with a magic glove you're wearing and you think we're the ones messing with you?" Star asked, Five not having much of a response to that. Walking away from the chaos of the game booth the five kids headed outside the convention center, getting some fresh air after all that excitement. Miko nudged Five in the shoulder and whispered to him.

"Say... Five, do we have to mind wipe them?" She asked curiously. "They helped us a lot back there."

"Yeah, I know I know. I really liked them too. But... company policy, you know? I don't think we can just let them go after explaining everything like that." Five suggested. Messing with the controls on his gauntlet and getting it ready to erase their recollection of the experiences they had all just shared together. Though before he could take action a voice called out to them.

"Hey, you kids!" A muffled man's voice echoed, all of them looking back to see the Mascot Mackie running up to greet them. "Phew, it's hard to move around in this thing. Anyway, I wanted to catch up with you. Those were some pretty crazy moves back there. You all do stunts in movies or anything like that?"

"Not exactly..." Five said in response.

"Hey, you're the guy that blocked the Mackie Hand attack that fake Mackie did. That was incredible!" Marco said in excitement to the man. "I didn't know it was possible to stop that attack, how did you do it!?"

"Heh, well, you know, I might have had a little training with that move in the past." He explained, reaching up and lifting off the giant Mackie Hand head of his costume.

Causing all five of the kids before him to scream in fright.

"What the heck!?" Miko shrieked, grabbing Lexi and pulling her away from him.

"He's missing his eyes!" Five shouted, pointing his gauntlet at the man before them.

"A Zombie! He's an undead! Rip his head off, crush his brain!" Star said, reeling back a fist to do just that. But Marco leaped in front of all of them.

"Wait, wait wait wait! Everyone just wait a second!" Marco shouted, stopping their attack and turning back to the green skinned man that had been hiding under the mascot costume this whole time. "You're... the real Mackie Hand, aren't you?"

"That's right, I'm the real deal. Mackie Hand himself!" He let out a battle cry and took on a karate pose, everyone but Marco staring at this in confusion as a memory came back to him.

"Aw, dang it! Now I remember!" Marco cried out. "This is really him, the actual Mackie Hand. Tom brought him back from the dead that day we went out together the first time we hung out."

"That's right, now I remember seeing your face." Mackie explained. "Boy, was I confused. After beating up those security guards at that movie theater and also signing a bunch of autographs for the fans that came out of it, I was at a loss of what to do next. Thankfully for me one of the guys that had been at the movie marathon was a video game producer. After he met me and I got over the urge to eat his brains, we sat down and figured out a way to make a game series based around my movies that would actually be fun." He said proudly as Five, Miko and Lexi were processing the fact that they were speaking with an undead man. Though Star looked more annoyed than afraid.

"Marco, are you telling me you and Tom were out raising the dead and you didn't put him back in the ground after you were done!?"

"We just sorta forgot!" Marco explained. "Besides, it's a good thing we did. Mackie Hand saved the day, just like in his movies."

"Oh yeah, speaking of which, here you go." Mackie said, wiggling around inside of his suit and then handing Marco and Five two business cards. "Give me a call sometime if you all want to try out being stunt actors in one of my films. I'm trying to get back in the game and bringing a crew like you along would really help my chances." Picking the large head back up he stuck it on the suit again and waved to the teens. "Well I better get back to the stage, my producer doesn't like me walking around without the mask on too long. Says it scares the kids. See you soon I hope!" Walking away from them he left the teens to look over the cards they'd been handed. Processing what had just happened.

"So... are we gonna be movie stars?" Miko asked Five, sounding a little excited. "I dunno if I'd want to give up being a Glitch Tech even if it meant that, but it could still be fun." Five didn't have a response to her question, but he had a question of his own for Marco.

"Say, who's Tom?"

"Oh, he's a friend of mine and Star's." Marco explained.

"Ex-boyfriend, actually." Star interjected. "And the half demon son of the ruler of hell. Also a guy that doesn't clean up his messes apparently and just lets zombies walk around."

"C'mon Star, it's not that bad. It was actually pretty fun. Oh, Hector, let's trade numbers."

"You too, Miko!" Star said, the teens all trading contact information together through their phones so they could keep in touch after this. Once the trade was made they put their phones away. "Well I guess we should get back home. But we could all hang out again someday maybe?"

"Yeah, that sounds great!" Miko replied excitedly. "So are your parents coming to pick you guys up?"

"We got our own ride actually." Marco said, whistling loudly out towards the parking lot. There was a roar that sounded like the combination of a beast and an engine as they witnessed a dragon fly upwards from between the cars and circle around to come to a landing in front of the convention center. As Marco and Star mounted the animal Miko and Five could see the dragon was resting on two stone wheels it was holding between its claws on the front and back. "Good girl Nachos, thank you for waiting for us sweetie." He said, doting on the animal a little before sitting securely on her back.

"Miko, I'll text you when I get home, okay?" Star said, waving as she and Marco took off into the sky together on the dragoncycle. As they watched them fly away Miko turned to look at Five.

"I guess... we're not gonna mind wipe them after all, huh?"

"After today I feel like we're the ones that saw something we weren't supposed to."


End file.
